The future of online healthcare is quite rosy, according to Forrester Research. Experts there expect the industry to hit $370 billion by 2004 with a majority ($348 billion) coming from B2B transactions. Retail business will make up the remaining $22 billion.
Of course, there will be a slow ramp-up to over come the technical and organizational hurdles as the learning curve for the entire industry is quite high. (For example, last year, VHA, Inc., a national network of health organizations, reported only 28% of all physicians had Internet access in their offices. Now the 80% have the capabilities.) Forrester expects companies that deal in distribution channels and insurance claims will fare best in the emerging electronic revolution.